Dragonhead is a legendary stout: dark, intense and fully-flavoured it is our tribute to the Vikings and their cultural legacy in Orkney. On the nose, this black stout has a smooth roasted malt aroma giving bitter chocolate, dark roasted coffee and smoky notes balanced by hints of spicy Goldings Hops. On the palate, the dark roasted malts combine to give a rich, rounded palate of chocolate, toast and nut, with a satisfying spicy hop finish.

Taste - Heavy bitter coco as in the nose plenty of burnt malt with a liberal amount of an almost whisky like flavour with evidence of peat water. Not much of the promised hop the label mentions or the spice but both are evident in small measure.

Mouthfeel - Slightly powdery even slightly gritty and very, very drying to an almost unpleasant degree. I say almost!!

Overll - this is a good stout with decent flavour and a great look and smell. Drink this beside a Guinness man and feel like a man next to the goon beside you. No offence intended to the Guinness boys but this one has real flavour. The MF lets it down slightly and the burnt nature of the malt profile overpowers some of the other flavours but having said that I do like it.

Poured dark brown, almost black with a creamy, dark tan head that dissipated leaving heavy lacing.

Smell was chocolate malts, some caramel and a little earthiness.

Taste is similar to smell with chocolate malts, some nuttiness, a bit of burnt caramel. As it warmed some plum or fig flavor started to come out. It finishes with a nutty, smoky bitterness that is the most prominent element. Mouthfeel is a bit more carbonation than expected with a thinner body as well.

Overall this is good but not great. I'd drink it again, but I wouldn't seek it out.

Pours an opaque black with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Foamy patches of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, smoke, and cocoa aromas. Taste is much the same with smoke, char, and bittersweet cocoa flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of roast and smoke bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer that is quite smoke forward all around.

Dragonhead Stout - Orkney Brewery. Poured from the bottle into a a glass seidel , this brew's got a one finger thick brown head, lateral lacing, and a black body.

I smell banana esters along with the rich dark chocolate and dark coffee notes. All of these elements are richer in character, as one would expect with a stout of this historical depth and magnitude.

Tastes like ,yes, banana esters with dark chocolate and dark roast black coffee. Nothing is offensive in this category. A very smooth sipper of a stout, indeed!

The mouthfeel I'm getting with this brew is slightly thicker, as expected with any stout. Nothing chewy or sticky, its got a very clean finish for having such profound characteristics. Wow!

Overall, I'll give Dragonhead Stout - Orkney Brewery a 4.75. I thought it would have a slight astringency due to the brewery's home nation take on most beers, but this was smooth the whole way through. As a huge fan of viking/folk metal, this certainly caught my eyes at the local bottle shop. I am quite impressed with this offering by Orkney Brewery and plan on purchasing and reviewing more of their products in the near future.